After months of questions of will they or won’t they leave, the answer today was deafening.
Colorado’s Board of Regents unanimously voted to give authority to Colorado administrators to enter an agreement with the Big XII.
After the vote, a joint statement from Chancellor Philip DiStefano and Athletic Director Rick George read, “After careful thought and consideration, it was determined that a switch in conference would give CU Boulder the stability, resources, and exposure necessary for long-term future success in a college athletics environment that is constantly evolving. The Big 12’s national reach across three time zones as well as our shared creative vision for the future we feel makes it an excellent fit for CU Boulder, our students, faculty, and alumni.
These decisions are never easy and we’ve valued our 12 years as proud members of the Pac-12 Conference. We look forward to achieving new goals while embarking on this exciting next era as members of the Big 12 Conference.”
With Colorado returning back to the Big XII, what does this all mean for all parties involved?
Colorado Football Program
Colorado felt uncertainty with the Big XII when it originally left with Nebraska after the 2010 season.
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This time, things were even more dire for the Colorado program, as they never gained any traction in the Pac-12. They only appeared in two bowl games during their time in the conference.
Southern California and UCLA’s exit to the Big Ten began to accelerate of the sinking feeling and the Pac-12 conference didn’t make things any better.
With the Pac-12’s poor performance in obtaining a media rights deal, the question becomes how much pressure did Coach Prime and boosters exert on the university to make a move back to their former conference?
Colorado returns to face some familiar foes in Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Texas Tech. Additionally, new regional foes in TCU, Houston, and BYU will be more enticing for Colorado fans than the potential Pac-12 replacements for Southern Cal and UCLA.
Deion Sanders
In a recent Mind of Mike, Mike Farrell outlined why Deion Sanders is the greatest hire ever.
The core of his argument is everything that has come Colorado’s way is because of Deion Sanders, and to me, there is a kernel of truth for this.
I agree with his take that it is Sanders’ huge influence that has kept Colorado out of the realignment cold.
I also feel there are more significant factors that influenced Colorado’s move back to the Big XII, but for Coach Prime, this is a huge win for his program.
To me, Sanders has a national brand no matter what. But with his ties to Texas, especially Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, he is going to have a much easier sale on the recruiting trail to convince prospects to come to Colorado.
Sanders also has an easier climb getting Colorado back to its winning ways in the Big XII than in the Pac-12.
Even without Southern Cal and UCLA, Oregon is beginning to get back in a big way. The Ducks just gave head coach Dan Lanning a huge vote of confidence with his huge contract extension.
Kyle Whittingham of Utah is one of the most consistent programs in the country.
Kalen DeBoer has Washington back to the heights the program had under Chris Petersen.
Even Jonathan Smith at Oregon State is quietly building the Beavers into a very consistent program.
This wasn’t going to be an easy rebuild.
The Big XII I feel is more wide open especially with Texas and Oklahoma leaving, this may be the big break Coach Prime needs to make Colorado a College Football Playoff contender.
George Kliavkoff
The Pac-12’s demise seems to have accelerated under Kliavkoff’s leadership and that is what makes one of the sport’s historic conference downfall even more tragic.
Kliavkoff tried (and failed) to use political pressure to involve the California Board of Regents and California politicians, notably Governor Gavin Newsom, to thwart UCLA’s move to the Big Ten.
That epic failure was just the start.
The blind trust Kliavkoff had in Colorado led to his brazen statement on Pac-12 Media Days where he said he wasn’t worried about potential members leaving stating he felts each member was committed to one another. This clearly wasn’t the case.
As time continued to tick away on the Pac-12 media rights deal that didn’t come to fruition by the conference’s media days, the patience Colorado had been exercising had expired.
In my nearly three decades following and covering the Pac-12 and college football as a whole, I never thought I would see a commissioner worse than John Marinatto of the Big East. George Kliavkoff makes Marinatto look like a genius and Marinatto actually cared to try to keep the Big East together – Marinatto was a key member with Dave Gavitt and Mike Tranghese in forming and growing the league.
The Pac-12’s Fate
There are only so many blows this conference can take before it dies.
While Colorado wasn’t a founding or long-time member of the conference, having Coach Prime, the Denver TV market, and an institution with the academic prestige of Colorado was a big deal.
During Kliavkoff’s reign of ineptitude, the conference has lost three huge brands and members.
Furthermore, there aren’t expansion targets out there that are even on the Colorado level. San Diego State or Boise State could bring football cache and help, but that is only a bandaid on the gaping wound of a situation.
While many industry insiders have said if the Pac-12 were to reach out to SMU, the boosters would invest in their NIL collective, The Boulevard Collective, to the levels that would only be matched or exceeded by Oregon’s Division Street collective.
The question is how long would it take for SMU to have facilities to the level of the Pac-12 or even get back to a winning level or brand level on par with Colorado?
The conference’s fate lies with Oregon and Washington, and even though the Big Ten rebuffed initial flirtations, they are going to have to protect its newest West Coast assets with some geographic rivals.
It’s now only a matter of time before the Pac-12 dies, and it is sad that the inept leadership of Larry Scott or George Kliavkoff killed such a historic conference.
Is this Colorado’s last move?
I personally feel it is only a matter of time before there are two super conferences in the Big Ten and SEC. Those conferences will have a professional sports feel to every aspect of it.
To thwart the future two-party system of college football, it is essential that the Big XII and ACC remain viable, as it’s probably already too late for the Pac-12 to survive. And the key to that is the ACC.
When seven ACC schools: Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Miami, NC State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, explored how to break the ACC Grant of Rights clause, it foreshadowed the pending fate of the conference.
To me, by 2036, the Big Ten and SEC will raid the conference and battle for those schools.
I feel Colorado needs to rebuild its program and get into a position that when college football’s next conference cannibalization occurs, they will have a seat either with the Big Ten or SEC.
Pac-12 teams like Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal most likely will have to wait until the potential cannibalization of the ACC is determined.
The ultimate thing is the growing disparity between the Big Ten & SEC and the rest of the country is one that cannot continue for the viability of the Pac-12, ACC, or Big XII.
At the end of the day, the Big XII is a waystation for Colorado.
The winner here is Coach Prime. He gets a much easier path to rebuild and compete immediately. This win, coupled with many others Colorado has had off the field in the wake of his hiring is influencing a very positive outlook for the future of the Buffaloes, whether it is in the Big XII or its next landing spot.
